Paint roller



Feb. 20, 1968 F, DECK im 3,369,269

PAINT ROLLER Filed May l, 1967 United States Patent O ABSTRACT @F THE DHSCLSURE A paint roller including a cover plate which is selectively positioned over the free end of the roller to act as a paint screen and thus prevent the undesired contact of the paint lled roller with surfaces which are not to be painted.

Disclosure The present invention relates to a paint roller having a handle, one end of which is provided with a hand grip and the other end of which is bent perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the hand grip so as to form a shaft on which the roller can be freely rotatably mounted.

The invention resides in the provision of a cover plate Whose plane is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the roller and which is spaced a slight distance from the free end of the roller. The cover plate consists of two `superposed disks, the inner one having a greater periphery which extends over the edge of the outer one. A sort of at brush is mounted on the inner disk approximately concentric with the axis of the roller with the edge of the bristles of the brush extending beyond the edge of the inner disk. The cover plate is supported on the handle in such a manner that it can swing around the longitudinal axis of the latter and be held in a position remote from the roller.

In accordance with an -alternate embodiment of the invention, the cover plate is fastened to a grip which is movable lengthwise along a part of the length of the handle. The part of the handle bearing the grip is formed from a twisted square bar, and the grip has a corresponding square guideway. In order to hold the cover plate in its outward swung position, i.e., remote from the end of the roller, a detent means is provided including a springloaded ball mounted in a transverse bore in the grip and a circumferential groove cut in the handle with the ball engaging the groove to effect locking.

All the parts of the cover plate may advantageously consist of plastic and/or of plastic-coated metal.

In painting, there is frequently a need for clean painted edges which may be necessary on numerous objects, particularly when painting diiferent colored wall surfaces or wall surfaces which, for instance, adjoin the ceiling of a room.

When painting such edges with the known paint rollers and while guiding the roller free hand, irregularities are unavoidable, and in most cases time-consuming additional work for the wiping or scraping away of surplus paint is necessary in order to obtain the desired clean painted edge.

-In order to avoid this subsequent time-consuming work, variousworking techniques have been introduced. Thus, it is, for instance, possible to continuously cover the area which is not to be painted with a spatula which is applied by hand. The use of this technique, however, .has the disadvantage that the paint must be frequently removed from the spatula and that the painting time itself is made longer by the covering and spatula cleaning.

In accordance with another known technique, very clean paint edges can be obtained by covering the parts ICC which are not to be painted with paper or by applying adhesive masking strips of paper or plastic foil. In this case, however, the costs of the covering material and the additional amount of work required for the application and removal of the covering material must be tolerated.

These known techniques are either unsatisfactory in their result or else require a considerable expenditure of time and money.

The paint roller in accordance with the present invention, on the other hand, makes it possible to produce clean painted edges with little expenditure of work and costs. Further, the invention is simple to use and will yield satisfactory results even when used by relatively un skilled persons.

The provision of the paint roller with the inventive covering plate arranged on the side makes it possible to make clean painted edges since the cover plate, which acts as an end screen for the roller, prevents undesired contact of the paint-filled roller with the adjacent surfaces which are not to be painted. Due to the fact that the cover plate is composed of two plates which form a stepped edge and furthermore that the flat brush, the edge or" the bristles of which protrudes beyond the outermost edge of the cover plate, is arranged on the inner side, i.e., adjacent the roller there is no possibility of paint reaching a place where it is not desired.

The cover plate, which can be locked in a swung-out position, affords the advantage that the device can be used with the cover plate swung out laterally, for instance, for painting large areas without painted edges. With the cover plate in this position, the roller can be dipped into the paint without the cover plate coming into contact with the paint. By laterally displacing the grip, which has a square guideway within it, the grip rnoves along the part of the handle which is developed as a twisted square. The cover plate is fastened to the grip and carries out a rotary motion about the axis of the handle. The cover plate is preferably fastened to the grip under spring action, for instance, by means of a spring bar twisted about its longitudinal axis, which assures that the roller will rest fully against the surface being painted. The bristles of the cover plate in the operating position protrude beyond the outer surface of the roller. The spring action allows the cover plate to be deflected, when the roller is applied against the surface to be painted, to such an extent that the edge of the cover plate contacting the area to be painted is flush with the roller. The provision of the detent means in the grip affords, when the loading spring is properly selected, not only the possibility of locking the grip and cover plate in the extreme positions but the additional advantage that the grip and the cover plate may be held in any desired intermediate position due to the friction between the ball and the handle. A second similar detent means can be provided for the covering position of the cover plate. The cover plate or its parts consist preferably of plastic or of plasticcoated metal in order to prevent undesired lines being produced at the paint edges as a result of the abrasion of metal.

The means for accomplishing the foregoing objects and other advantages, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the following specification and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings dealing with a basic embodiment of the present invention. Reference is made now to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of the paint roller ready for use with a cover plate in operating position;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the same roller with the cover plate held in its laterally swung-out position;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the grip with a part of the handle andthe holder for the cover plate; and

aseazea FIG. 4 is a plan view of the inside of the cover plate.

A paint roller 4 is seated on a shaft 3 to be freely rotatable and easily removable so that it can be replaced and exchanged at any time. For this purpose a plastic liner is preferably provided within the roller. The open end of the liner can be slit and engage in a corresponding milling on the shaft 3 without preventing the rotation. The shaft 3 is formed from bending the free end of a handle 1 substantially perpendicular to the main direction of the handle 1. The handle 1 is first bent an obtuse angle away from the axis of the handle, secondly at an obtuse angle towards the axis of the handle to be parallel therewith, and thirdly, at a right angle to form shaft 3. The lower end of the handle 1 is inserted into a hand grip 2 and fastened therein. The bending of the handle 1 results in the hand grip 2 being positioned substantially at the center of the roller 4. The central part of the handle 1 is developed as a square bar twisted 90 over a part of the length. A movable grip 5, which is provided on its inside with a square guideway, is displaceably mounted on the central part of the handle so that it rotates 90 as it passes over the twist of the handle.

A spring bar 7 is fastened on the end 6 of the grip 5 facing the roller 4. In order to assure a good holding action, the spring bar 7 is twisted 180 around its longitudinal axis. On the free end of the spring bar 7, there is mounted a cover plate 8, the plane of which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the roller 4 and which is spaced a slight distance from the roller. The cover plate 8 consists of two superposed disks 9` and 10. The inner disk 10 protrudes beyond the edge of the outer disk 9. A sort of flat brush 11 is mounted on the inner disk 10 approximately concentrically with the axis of the roller. The edge of the bristles of the brush `protrudes beyond the edge of the inner disk 10. All the parts of the cover plate may he made of plastic and/ or plastic-coated metal. The cover plate can also be formed from a single disk with correspondingly stepped edge instead of the tWo disks 9 and 10. The cover plate 8 is preferably interchangeable, for instance, in the manner that it is mounted on the end of the spring bar 7.

In the handle 1, above the hand grip 2, at least one groove 12 is provided to serve as the notch for a detent means to hold the cover plate in position. As can be noted from FlGS. 2 and 3, in the swung-out position, i.e., the rest position of the cover plate, a ball 14 mounted in a transverse bore in the grip 5 and biased by a spring 13 engages in said groove 12.

If desired, a second detent means (not shown) can be provided to retain the cover plate in the working position as shown in FIG. 1.

What is claimed is:

1. A paint roller having a roller and a handle one end of which is provided with a hand grip and the other end of which is bent perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the handle to form a shaft on which the roller can freely rotate, comprising a cover plate selectively positional between working and rest positions, said cover plate in the working position being in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the roller and slightly spaced therefrom, said cover plate being remote from said roller in the rest position, said cover plate consisting of a disklike member, the inner face of which extends beyond the edge of the outer face, a flat brush mounted on the inner face of said member so as to be approximately concentrical with the axis of the roller in the work position, the bristles of said brush protruding beyond the edge of the inner face of said member, and means to movably mount said cover yplate on the handle.

2. A paint roller according to claim 1 in Which said disk-like member comprises two superposed disks, the inner disk having a periphery larger than said outer disk to extend there-beyond.

3. A paint roller according to claim 1 in which said means for mounting said cover plate on said handle comprises a movable grip mounted on the handle for longitudinal movement over a portion thereof, said portion of the handle being developed as a square bar twisted about its longitudinal axis, a square guideway in said movable grip, spring bar means one end of which is mounted on the end of said movable grip towards said roller and the other end of which has said cover plate mounted thereon, whereby longitudinal movement of said movable grip imparts a rotational movement to said cover plate thus moving it to a position remote from the end of said roller.

4. A paint roller according to claim 3 in which the cover plate is detachably mounted on said spring bar means.

S. A paint roller according to claim 3 in which said spring bar is twisted about its longitudinal axis to insure good positioning of said cover plate.

6. A paint roller according to claim 3 in which detent means are provided to hold said movable grip in at least said rest position, said detent means comprising a transverse bore in said movable grip, a spring biased ball mounted in said bore directed towards said handle, and groove means in said handle, said ball engaging in said groove means.

7. A paint roller according to claim 6 in which said spring biased ball is under sufficient force to hold said movable grip immobile between said working and rest positions.

8. A paint roller according to claim 1 in which said cover plate is formed from nonmetallic parts.

9. A Ipaint roller according to claim 1 in which said cover plate is formed from plastic-coated metal parts.

10. A paint roller according to claim 1 in which said brush includes bristles extending from opposite sides of said disk-like member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 375,919 l/l888 Boyle 15-114 XR 756,695 4/1904 Peterson 15-114 X'R 2,907,061 10/1959 Whalen 15-114 3,204,276 9/1965 Kennedy 15-230.l1

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner. 

